Swiss - French Recipe Ideas for Personal Chefs by Ruth Paget

Swiss – French Recipe Ideas for Personal Chefs by Ruth Paget 

After visiting the Swiss – German towns of New Glarus and Monroe, Wisconsin during my 2026 summer vacation to the Dairyland State, I wanted to learn more about Swiss food and read The Classic Swiss Family Kitchen Cookbook: 150 Traditional Recipes from Switzerland’s Home Kitchens by Clayton Daniels (Available on Amazon Kindle). 

Daniels features recipes from the 4 official language areas of Switzerland. The official language follow on the list below: 

-German 

-French 

-Italian 

-Romansh 

Romansh is a Romance language from Switzerland’s largest canton (Swiss state) located in the country’s southeastern corn. This canton in named Graubünden. 

The recipes I singled out for discussion here are Swiss – French. I have made similar French recipes at home and/or eaten these dishes in restaurants. 

The following recipes give a flavor of Swiss – French food and are not too difficult to prepare: 

*Geneva Cardoon Soup 

Prickly leaved cardoons are prepared with shallots, potatoes, and cream in this rich starter soup. 

*Vaud Potato – Leek Soup 

This soup makes use of premium ingredients with the addition of cream for another rich starter soup recipe. 

*Vaud Harvest Loaf 

This bread is made with white and whole wheat flour and the addition of chopped walnuts. 

*Wild Mushroom Fondue 

Adding sliced and sautéed wild mushrooms to melted cheese in fondue is a very sophisticated French touch to this delectable meal. 

*Valais Raclette 

This recipe features melted raclette cheese that is spread on boiled potatoes. Sour cornichon pickles are the typical accompaniments to this dish. 

I have seen raclette served in Parisian restaurants where a raclette cheese half was suspended above a flame that made the melted cheese drip onto trays that were delivered to diners to go with their potatoes. (Table top raclette trays and raclette suspenders are sold on Amazon.) 

People who would like to visit Dairyland Switzerland, learn about their ancestors’ cooking, or add to their personal chef portfolio might enjoy the Classic Swiss Family Kitchen Cookbook by Clayton Daniels. 

Bon appétit! 

By Ruth Paget

Sausage and Lentils by Nigella Lawson video reposted by Ruth Paget

This is an easy recipe by Nigella Lawson that uses primo ingredients.  In California, find some Aidells  sausage you like and use it in this recipe.

This recipe with Italian sausages and lentils looks so good:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iMsfI6sQmfI&ra=m

Happy cooking!

By Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

12 oz Jimmy Dean bacon is $4.99 for Nob Hill - Raley’s members today 8-28-2026 reposted by Ruth Paget

I received a very good e-mail digital coupon from Nob Hill - Raley’s this morning:

A 12-ounce package of Jimmy Dean bacon for $4.99 as part of the Nob Hill - Raley’s member program.

That is a good price.

I make bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwiches with mustard-mayonnaise with cooked bacon. Watermelon is a good dessert with BLT sandwiches.  (Watermelon harvest is in.  Watermelon has also been on sale to Nob Hill - Raley’s members.)

Bon Appetit!

By Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France,and Europe’s lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

The Last Word on Lutefisk reviewed by Ruth Paget

The Last Word on Lutefisk reviewed by Ruth Paget 

The Last Word on Lutefisk: True Tales of Cod and Tradition by Gary Legwold records a Norwegian-American food tradition that is of interest to anthropologists, younger Norwegian-Americans, and fundraisers from many types of organizations. 

Legwold’s book contains information on lutefisk production and church lutefisk dinner fundraisers in the United States in the form of memoirs. 

Legwold begins his discussion of lutefisk in the Lofotens Islands off the coast of Norway where he goes fishing for cod that will eventually be made into lutefisk in the US. 

Once the cod is caught, it is air-dried on the Lofotens into stockfish. The cod in the stockfish reduces to 1/3 of its original size and becomes as dry and hard as 2x4 plank of wood. It is similar to salt cod for being dried and hard, but stockfish is not salted like salt cod. 

Stockfish with the bones in is sold throughout the European market. Cod that has its backbone and all other bones removed and trimmed and air-dried is called ling. Ling is sold to the American market to be made into lutefisk. 

To rehydrate ling, it is soaked in lye and rinsed to soften it. Once rehydrated, the ling is soaked in hydrogen peroxide to whiten it and rinsed. At the end of this process, you have uncooked lutefisk. 

Lutefisk can be baked or boiled. It is tender and flaky when cooked correctly. If it is overcooked, it becomes a gummy mess.  

The beauty of lutefisk is that in its dry ling form, it can be stored for decades. During years with crop failures, it was a welcome source of food. 

Church lutefisk dinners provide a yearly occasion to teach the importance of lutefisk to Norwegian-American survival in the United States. The smallest lutefisk summer usually serves 600 people served in ticketed shifts for sit-down meals. 

Lutefisk suppers help Lutheran churches raise money for an upcoming church season. Legwold has an important shopping list on page 64 for a 600-person lutefisk supper. This list provides for 600 pounds of lutefisk – 1 pound per person – and the ingredients for Swedish meatballs and gravy for 600 people. 

Legwold also provides numbers for the amount of potatoes, corn, and rutabagas to purchase for a 600-person dinner. This list is useful for event planners, who might not eat lutefisk. You can substitute fresh fish for lutefisk in the ingredient list or just serve Swedish meatballs as a fundraiser dinner. 

People who like food and travel writing will also find many interesting trips and travel ideas in the US and Norway in Gary Legwold’s anthropological memoirs entitled The Last Word on Lutefisk: The Tales of Cod and Tradition. 

Note: My family attended a lutefisk dinner in Wisconsin.  The following blog describes our fun outing:

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2012/03/norwegian-lutefisk-dinners-in-wisconsin.html?m=1

My husband Laurent and I ate a great lunch at the Norske Nook on our recent trip to DeForest, Wisconsin.  We bought Legwold’s book in the souvenir shop at the Norske Nook.  Our lunch is described below:

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/08/norwegian-noshing-at-norske-nook-in.html?m=1

I wrote about Scandinavian culture in general in my blog post about a family visit to Door County Wisconsin where we ate a  liking Fish Boil meal.  The blog follows:

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2012/03/fish-boils-and-egg-wars-in-door-county.html?m=1

I learned a few things about about Norwegian culture from a Norwegian-American author on a trip I took to Minnesota in the following blog:

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2012/03/sweet-minnesota-travel-next-state-over.html?m=1

Bon Appétit! 

By Ruth Paget 

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books 

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games -creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center 

-creator of French travel and culture games 

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs  

-family genealogist 

-developer of 9 music theory games

Ranch Dressing Video Filmed by Florence Paget reposted by Ruth Paget

My daughter Florence Paget made a video of herself making ranch dressing on TikTok.

The video follows:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTDswhVCD/

This dressing tastes great on broccoli slaw.

Ranch dressing costs around $2.79 for an 8-bounce bottle.  If you eat a lot of ranch dressing, you might want to calculate savings on making it yourself versus buying it.

Reposted by Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Vslley History Museum

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

Ratatouille Video Filmed by Florence Paget reposted by Ruth Paget

Ratatouille (pronounced rah-tah-two-ee) is a French vegetable stew from southeastern France along the Riviera where Italian influence is strong.

My daughter Florence Paget cooked the ratatouille and filmed herself doing it using a stationery tripod with a camera.  I did a video of her serving it up at the end that Florence edited in at the end of the main video.

The video of Florence Paget making ratatouille from TikTok follows:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTDgKNn2f/

Ratatouille makes great use of vegetables from the farmers’ market.

By Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Gamed

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

Duck and Goose Seller Near Salinas (Gonzales), California by Ruth Paget

Metzer Farms, about 20 miles south of Salinas (California) sells ducks and geese.

Their website follows:

https://www.metzerfarms.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorf7jVfQLDJB4L4iSRhT1yKKxhAhRoVKiwgpxYpiRqpnt7bKUO5

Happy Shopping!

By Ruth Paget